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Our old universe has fallen into impossible chaos and destruction, but the Legendaries will save us; are saving us; have saved us. Soon many lives and memories will fill this new universe, this new world, and give it purpose. (Our site is best viewed in Firefox or Chrome.)

Events

Season

Autumn will be here until December. All of Terrene is cooling by degrees; those in Ashfield scarcely notice because it never truly gets cold there, though they will notice the decreased rains and humidity. Winds pick up, particularly in the southern areas. Ghost types are more common this season.

Fox's feet slammed against the ground, splashing rainwater and mud, as he ran as hard as he could. He pushed his legs to propel himself forward as much as they could with every step. He forced himself to keep his head up and eyes looking forward, to prevent himself from restricting his own breath. He couldn't afford to stop. He couldn't ever stop. This was always the case, however it was more so at this moment. This particular instance was awfully literal, rather than the semi-literal, mostly metaphorical need to run forever. He'd been moving form town to town, even after Dragon, the last of his friends had died. They were dead and he alone now... But he couldn't stop. It wouldn't bring them back if he stopped and stood still long enough for this fucked up universe to take him as well. So, he did what it took to survive. Which had led to his current situation. He'd hadn't eaten in a few days, so he'd stolen some food. He'd already wolfed it down hours ago, however the person he'd stolen from had a few friends. In the form of able-bodied men, and their pokemon ready to hunt and kill Fox. Which led to Fox's current situation of running on and on and on.

It was times like these he wished Kurow was still around. Maybe even Blink, Stormy, or Itachi. However, the Blitzle, Luxio, and Linoone hadn't been able to move on after the deaths of their masters. He'd been forced to leave them behind. As for Kurow... He didn't like to think about it. The last time Fox had stolen something he needed, Kurow's life had been the price. He'd been let off with minor injuries, but... He'd lost an... Ally who could've helped him out in many dire situations in the future. As it was, he was alone, fleeing for his life through a muddy forest in the midst of a rain. The rain wasn't acidic thankfully. However, it was a fierce downpour that had been going on for the last two weeks. Rainstorms before everything went down to shit never lasted that long.

Suddenly, he reached the end of the trees and skidded to a stop, as he stood over a cliff. Peering over the edge, it reached down to a surely deadly depth into a rushing river. If he fell down there, he'd surely die. He whipped around to see his pursuers finally catch up, spitting as they imparted their words of hatred and rage. It meant nothing to Fox. Everyone was angry and frustrated in this world now. They were more of the same. Nothing special. No one was special, really. Certainly not to Fox or anyone else. Their pokemon growled and hissed at him, mirroring the emotions of their masters. He idly wondered if pokemon were mirrors of humanity or if they simply became in tune with their masters through endless hours bonding and forging loyalty. He stood tall, refusing to let anything show. Not that he was afraid. Oddly enough, he feared nothing from these morons. He would get out of this. He always did. Then something unexpected happened.

He hated unexpected things.

The cliff beneath him cracked and crumbled, and he lost his footing. He wasn't able to leap to safety and suddenly he was falling backwards. The rain pounded in his ears, in tandem with his furious heartbeat. He could hear jeering, laughter, and rage-filled screams. He couldn't tell if they were happy he was going to die or angry they weren't going to be the ones to kill him. Fox was going to be killed by the topsy turvy mess the world had become.

He suddenly felt fear trying to crawl out of his threat, as he realized he was about to die. Through no fault of his own. He wanted to scream it wasn't fair, but then he remembered that nothing in this world was fair. He really should've expected this was how he was going to die.

He braced himself to hit the water, and have his neck snap from the sheer force of hitting the water. Then his body would sink below the waves, and descend into the dark depths, washed downriver. No one would even look for his body because no had time and no one cared.

First it was a flash of blinding golden light. Then it was a wind, a powerful and warm and humid wind. It was so strong and furious that Fox would no longer be able to tell which way was up, which direction he was falling. He was surrounded by light at this point, shimmering and orange-yellow and invasive, he wouldn't be able to see anything else.

This lasted for perhaps the duration of a couple of slow breaths- and then the wind faded quick as it had come, as did the harsh light. He wouldn't feel much of anything save for a feeling of something hard and cool beneath his back.

He would see, when his vision returned to him, that he was lying on a small square of marble flooring, perhaps a yard and a half wide in either direction. There was also a shimmering golden mist calmly swirling and rolling around him, possessing a slight glow with which his surroundings were illuminated. Outside of the marble platform, however, there was nothing.

As he was regaining his bearings and taking account of his new surroundings in whatever way he chose to do so, he would see the mists begin to gain some energy and purpose, gathering into two pools before spreading out all around him, floating out into the nothingness. As the mists passed over the nothingness, new ground formed beneath.

To the right, a rocky cliff formed, shiny and slick as if he had, in fact, fallen down into the river and was now in some underwater obstacle course. It was covered in moss and slimy seaweed. If he cared to peer over the cliffside, he wouldn't find much below, as a fog seemed to cover whatever might be waiting for him down there. If he was truly invested in exploring the cliff and whatever lay beneath it, he would be able to climb down using various jutting-out rocks and pieces, but it would certainly not be an easy task, and who could tell if there would be any kind of reward at the end?

To the left, a more reasonable setting emerged from beneath the golden mists. It looked a bit like a beach, but without the water. The ground was loose, a sort of dirty sandy mixture, and though it formed in small and gradual hills and bluffs, there was a dark asphalt path that cut straight and flat through it. In the distance, there were a number of... somethings. They were too far away to define, but there was definitely a number of somethings out there, stark against the horizon.

After these were formed, the mists calmed down and resettled evenly across the ground, at rest. Nothing else changed in Fox's environment, neither were any instructions or indications given. But if he stood still long enough, a seed of restlessness would begin to grow within him.

Welcome to the void between universes. Arceus will guide Fox through a series of diverging paths, with each path's environment symbolically representing a particular choice. In this first scenario, Arceus will see if Fox will choose the difficult path or the easy path, the challenge or the relief. If he chooses the difficult path, his starter Pokemon will be one that Arceus believes is opposite of Fox, one that will provide a challenge. If he chooses the easy path, his starter Pokemon will be one that Arceus believes is similar to Fox, one that will provide support and validation. After this choice, though, you won't get an explanation of what the paths, the choices, represent! Have fun!

Fox had expected to break his neck on the water and die. Before he could feel any impact of any kind, there were an impossibly bright light that forced him to close his eyes. He couldn't see. Before he opened his eyes again, he felt an equally impossibly strong wind. His eyes were still shut, even behind his eyelids he could feel the harsh light waiting to punish his eyes should he open them. With his eyes closed, he was completely disoriented and wasn't sure which way was up and which was down. There was just... No way to tell. Then, as quickly as it had washed over him it was gone.

As he slowly opened his eyes, it registered that he was laying on his back. He groaned, using his arms to prop himself up and sit upright. Rubbing at the side of his head, he looked around. He looked down and saw he was on some marble platform in the middle of... Nowhere. There was literally nothing aside from the marble platform. Great. Wherever the fuck he was, he was clearly trapped by something really powerful. He narrowed his eyes at his surroundings, as he brought himself up to standing. Around the platform, golden mist peacefully stormed around him, lighting up the area.

As he trained his eyes on the mist, it seemed to be assembling and becoming somewhere, pooling together in two different areas. As the mist washed away, ground seemed to form two different paths. A cliff. Really? Fox had enough of cliffs. One had nearly killed him, dammit. He wasn't going to wait for another cliff to give out under him. The other path revealed a vaguely desert sort of path. There was a road in the middle of it for some odd reason. He frowned at it with narrowed eyes. Still, it was a much more favorably and seemingly less possibly fatal path. His legs began carrying him towards the more peaceful path, arms passively hanging at his sides.

As Fox made his decision and stepped onto the asphalt to begin his journey in that direction, the other path faded into nothingness behind him while the details of his chosen path began to reveal themselves further. It was dark, somewhat, like a permanent and unnatural dusk had consumed the area. No sun nor moon nor star shone above him, no indications of a sky, only thick and complete blackness, nothingness. Despite this, there was apparently enough illumination for him to see his surroundings, albeit somewhat dully. The air around him was still, and could be described as cool.

The asphalt path was smooth beneath his feet, providing no challenge or obstacle to him, save for a bit of a walk. If he kept up a decent walking pace, after a few minutes he would be able to see what it was that had been looming in the distance.

Three mountains, not too intimidatingly huge but still large enough to deserve their name, stood just ahead of Fox. It was a mystery how he had been able to come upon them so quickly; perhaps something unnatural had aided his pace, or perhaps the world was changing around him... Nevertheless, he stood at the base of three humble mountains. Two were next to each other, while the third stood a ways off from the other two. As he noticed this, Fox would also notice that the asphalt path he had been following also forked off in two separate directions just ahead of him; one path moving to the left toward the coupled mountains, and one moving to the right toward the solo mountain.

If he gave a moment of contemplation to each direction, there would be some obvious differences, as well as some similarities. All three mountains were about the same size and shape. All three mountains were snow-capped, as well; and even below the level of snow, no grass covered the sides of any of the three mountains. That was about where the similarities ended, however.

The two mountains together on the left were dotted all over with trees- pine trees, to be exact. The path would take him not up either mountain, but through the valley that they created between them. Additionally, it seemed a small but fast-flowing stream joined the path only a little ways ahead of him, bubbling rapidly alongside the asphalt, and it would follow beside him into the valley as well. Along this path, the sandy dirt gave way to simply dirt, still loose, but just normal dirt.

The single mountain on the right was... oddly flat on the top, rather than possessing a pointed and distinctive peak as the other two did. In fact, it more resembled a volcano, however considering the snow that blanketed the top third of the formation, if it was a volcano, it certainly wasn't an active one. At the foot of the volcano-mountain, and climbing part of the way up- juxtaposing the snow that sat atop- was dry and loose sand, with no dark dirty soil. The sand sat in piles around the volcano-mountain and in the distance beyond it. If he chose this direction, the asphalt path would take him just a little ways up the volcano and then around to the other side of it.

Again, Fox would be left to his own thoughts, with no instruction given, the presence that kept him here not revealing himself.

Fox didn't look back, and he didn't see his rejected alternative fade away, like wind blowing away the ashes from a fire. He wasn't the type to look back. The past and what was behind was waiting to eat you. It was only demons dogging your steps. Anything good only lay in the path ahead, in the road yet untraveled. Still... He couldn't quite see the light at the end of the tunnel. Or any light for that matter, darkness stretching around him. Yet, with every step forward he failed to fall into the void. Not that he wanted to, he simply... Well, it was unexpected. He thought a lot about it, but gave no words to these skeptic thoughts, as if saying them aloud would shatter the distortion of reality as if in a cartoon, and he'd fall into oblivion.

At least he could see.

His path forward remained unimpeded, and he supposed he could be thankful for the easy road... However, he didn't think a lack of hostility was worthy of thanks. Restraining from hostility and helping another were two separate things in his mind. One was to ease one's troubled mind and the other was... Good. Subjectively. What was good? What was evil? It was all perspective to him. One man's good is another man's evil. Was that how the saying went? He didn't quite recall and it troubled him, but the words sounded right to him even as they felt off. He didn't think too much about it.

As he trained his eyes on what lay ahead, hoping to catch a glimpse of what rested at the end of his road of asphalt. The cool, dimly lit air around him allowed him to see three tall mountains that he narrowed his eyes at. There was no doubt in his mind that they were mountains, rather than the idea of a really pointy hill. He was sure he hadn't changed his pace, yet it seemed as if he'd approached unnaturally swift. His trouble thoughts began to arise, rolling like a storm in the back of his mind. However, there was nothing his doubts would be able to change at this present time. There was only the choices ahead.

He stopped before the base of the three mountains, that seemed perhaps they could scratch the clouds, if this was a place with clouds like the real sky rather than a blank void. Upon further observation, one mountain was set apart from the rest. He felt there was some significance he was missing. He disliked missing puzzle pieces. They led to false conclusions stemming from lacking the full story. His gaze moved down to see the path forming a crossroads of two choices. Going to the lone mountain or the two mountains that remained side by side.

Nevertheless, he stood at the base of three humble mountains. Two were next to each other, while the third stood a ways off from the other two. As he noticed this, Fox would also notice that the asphalt path he had been following also forked off in two separate directions just ahead of him; one path moving to the left toward the coupled mountains, and one moving to the right toward the solo mountain. He looked to see what other aspects of the mountains could help influence his decision. The slightest frown formed upon his lips at seeing similarities. Each mountain were roughly carved out the same, each reaching high enough to gather solid cold around their peaks. Grass curled around the mountainsides, like a comforting gesture. He was more satisfied noting the differences. The paired mountains were plentiful with evergreen trees, their path reaching below and in between. In addition, there was a swift, yet small stream flowing down that direction. The road shifted from sandiness to simply.... Dirt. It couldn't be called anything other than dirt. It was the alpha dirt.

The loner mountain had a plateau on top, it seemed like. It looked... Vaguely volcano-y. Fox wasn't that science savvy, however he didn't think anyone would be able to tell from here if it was a fiery mountain ready to scream liquid, burning rage upon any unsuspecting souls, unless it was quite literally smoking. The sand pooled around the mountains base and on the path ahead in that direction.

Fox had to make a choice. He gently closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He inhaled and exhaled. His choice made, he began down the path of the twin mountains, trekking down the path dipping into the valley. He walked as the sandy ground turned to true dirt, a stream soon joining his journey beside him. He might be a selfish soul, however he wasn't going to surround himself with an environment that almost seemed to embody quiet misery. This road... It appeared much nicer.

The path he was on was idyllic and beautiful, if Fox was one to appreciate nature and forest scenes. The thin, lithe river bubbled along impatiently beside him, and the sound of water rushing over river-bottom rocks filled the otherwise silent world. The pine trees were a little too perfect and symmetrical to seem real... but from the beginning, all of this had been too surreal to really fool anyone into thinking that this was reality. Then again, the old and dying world wasn't exactly a model for logic and legitimacy, so who could say?

Fox wasn't yet finished making decisions, though.

As the other lone mountain faded away into nothingness, the path ahead of him took him into the valley alongside the river, with one mountain rising up on either side of him, blocking most of his view of the rest of the void- not that there was anything out there to see. After a while of walking down this particular path, Fox would once again see that up ahead, the path split. This time, however, it split into three rather than into two.

Two of the new paths continued on further into the valley; one, however, took a sharp turn to the right and began moving in steep switchbacks up the mountainside. Halfway up, the path met snow and ice, but it absolutely ignored them, continuing to wind its way up despite the changing conditions. Pine trees still peppered the side of the mountain, and could potentially make for good handholds or a branch could be taken for a walking stick- and if Fox ever found himself slipping or tripping, there would always conveniently be a tree nearby to catch him or for him to grab onto.

If he chose to stay in the valley, Fox had two distinct choices. The valley widened up ahead of him, as if making room for the two similar but separate paths and environments. On the left, the path abandoned the river and struck out toward a thick grove of trees- or was it a forest? It was impossible to see how thick or how expansive the grouping of pine trees was from where he was, but the trees were close together and they seemed to make the area darker, as if they were providing shade, despite the fact that there was no light source that they were blocking.

Alternatively, the valley path to the right followed alongside the river, which drew closer to the mountain. The mountain, too, seemed to be providing some sort of shade despite the lack of an actual physical light source. There were pine trees scattered around this path as well, but they were less of a feature. The thing that was particularly unique about this path, was that the river itself seemed to be changing- or was it the river bottom? If Fox investigated, he perhaps would be able to tell that the rocks that lined the riverbed had taken on a silver sheen, as if the ground and sediment beneath him and around him were changing. If he were particularly observant, Fox would notice that the dirt surrounding this particular path seemed to be taking on a bit of a sparkle as well, although it was less obvious than the shine of the river, which was emphasized by the movement of the water, which caught and bent the light reflected by the rocks beneath.

Fox could appreciate the quiet and peace. It was... A nice change of pace. That's how he felt, anyways. A lack of loud threatening noises, and large threats against his life accompanying them made him feel like this was a nice break, personally. He walked along the path, the small river both trailing behind and rushing ahead. He wasn't looking too carefully at the trees to notice the discrepancies between reality and this voidspace, because he was too busy making progress, going ahead. Besides, fake pine trees never hurt anyone. Not anymore than actual pine trees, would could break you if they fell on you.

As he walked down the path, he couldn't see the void anymore, a mountain blocking his view. He supposed it was fine. There was nothing there anyways, and... Well... All he needed to know about what was in close enough proximity to directly affect him. He didn't find anything beyond that all too important.

As he came upon a new crossroads, there were three paths to choose. He stopped at the split, choosing to wait and weigh his options. He looked to the path veering to the right first, the others that he could see would continue guiding him up the mountainside through snow and ice. All in all, it looked like a more difficult path. He shrugged. He could challenge himself and see where the path led out of curiosity... However, he wasn't interested in unnecessary risks unless he was sure he would benefit. Thus, there was no reason for him to take the cold path. For the two paths remaining into the valley, one lead into deep, dark forest. He could see ahead the river was abandoned, going into a forest that seemed almost suffocating. It shadowed anything that went inside, and didn't seem all to keen on allowing anything, even itself its space. He didn't see a reason to go somewhere that would obviously impair his vision and ability to see threats coming.

The other path continued around the mountain, hugging the river like an old time friend. The mountain gave some shade, but it wasn't necessary dark. The main feature of this path seemed to be the river suddenly sparkling. As he approached the river ahead, it seemed to be that the rocks on the river bottom were the sparkling aspect. Now that he looked harder, the dirt was also sparkling. He didn't see the purpose of such sparkling, but he preferred it over the two other paths.

Decision chosen, he began treading down the path of sparkles. Wow, that sounded really lame in his head. Even if he didn't particularly care about how lame it sounded, as long as it seemed the least likely to kill him or impair his ability to see threats and defend himself.

The water susurussed alongside him, bubbling and murmuring over the shimmering riverbed as if it held a secret.

The edges of the environment began to darken and fade. Not just what was behind him- though the things behind him were the first to go dark- but what was around him and ahead of him, too. The tips of the mountains faded to blackness, like graphite smudged away by an eraser or dry-erase marker effaced from a whiteboard. It was slow, but gradual and inevitable, the darkening of this make believe world around him. Even the horizon before him seemed to... be getting closer, as though he were walking towards the edge of a flat world.

Before he could reach the end, though, a hot wind picked up, bringing with it a humidity and the same glowing mists from before. They swirled and shone all around him, their shine increasing until their brightness was blinding. The wind would press in on him and lift him- though neither his clothes nor a hair of his head so much as rustled from the intense whirlwind- and he would experience intense vertigo and a momentary feeling of weightlessness.

After the long moment had passed, he'd feel solid ground beneath his feet once again- seconds after, the hot gales dissipated along with the fiery mists and whatever remained of Fox's memory, and he was left in a circle of ash and dust, the red-orange eyes of someone who had traveled long and far to get here to meet him, watching him from somewhere near.

Fox chose the easy path, prompting Arceus to choose a Pokemon that he felt was similar in some respect to him, one that would likely prove easier to get along with, one more sympathetic to his way of being and his way of life.

Fox's lack of compassion and generally defensive demeanor and responses are echoed quite similarly in the Pokemon that was chosen for him. Opportunistic, perceptive, selfish, defensive, and serious are a few of the best descriptions of most Pokemon of these particular types; and this particular species certainly doesn't hide what it is, its body black and edged with literal blades. Also like Fox, these creatures can bond closely with a select group, their pack- if Fox is lucky, maybe he'll be able to convince this creature to see him as their new pack... and vice versa.

[ This topic has ended, but you may resume the adventure in Ashfield. From now on, the Pawniard is yours and is under your creative control. The die roll for the chance to have a Pokedex resulted in 52, so Fox does not start with a Pokedex. Send me a PM when you've made the necessary decisions regarding your new Pokemon. Good luck and have fun! ]